Style Icons – Fashion Wisdom for ‘women of a certain age’

Style Icons – ‘for women of a certain age’ implies dowdiness.

Style Icons for women of a certain age! Oh dear lord, those words imply dowdiness. Audrey, oh Audrey, her style endured. She epitomised the Style Icon. She made her style look effortless, and that’s because it was. Do you remember the scene in Breakfast at Tiffanys where she literally got out of bed, put up her hair with not even the glimpse of a comb or mirror, then threw on “that black dress”, added the cats eye sunglasses and there you have it – style, style, style. And insulting to suggest that as she became a ‘woman of a certain age’ that her style became dowdy. Ines de la Fressange is also the embodiment of a style icon for ALL ages too. She is 63 and her style is definitely NOT dowdy. In fact, her style is funky and classic. That’s a total oxymoron, but if you follow her, you will know what I mean.

I love that she says (see video below) “Parisienne stye is a spirit, a kind of freedom where women dress up to feel good………”

Style Icons versus Fashion Icons

Style icons are not to be confused with fashion icons. The two are worlds apart. Billie Eilish below is renowned as a fashion icon. Then the divine 99 year old Iris Apfel (below) wow, wow, wow, definitely a fashion icon. Both Billie and Iris are fashion icons in their own right and the beauty is, fashion is  multi dimensional, individual, impressionistic. Love or loathe their fashion sense, it’s definitely an outlet for imagination and creativity. Whereas style is enduring and classic.

What makes a Style Icon?

What does make a style icon, since style as aforementioned, is subjective. An industry that thrives off a collective idea and if that collective idea is amassed for long enough, there makes a style icon. Hmmm, no, it’s more than that.  Style is enduring, timeless, classic, wearable. And most of all, it encompasses an attitude. The French know it so well. They have an attitude of quiet confidence and reservation. Their style never screams, is never garish, and never ever shows a logo or brand name. Unlike fashion, their style doesn’t  point to wealth or status but rather an hushed elegance. French fashion on the other hand is more about the total opposite. Although often fun, frivolous and ‘out there’. Classic examples are the images below of Amal Clooney and Billie Eillish.

Same designer, different orientations – style/fashion. A complication emerges with a purely subjective account of fashion and style, because the idea between the two becomes meaningless if everything is merely a matter of taste or personal preference. Put simply, there is an overlap between style and fashion, but a good rule of thumb is that style relates to the individual, while fashion is more collective.

Amal Clooney, wearing vintage Chanel. Classic lines, a quiet confidence, a gentleness.

Fashion Wisdom

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